Woodbridge Man Pleads Guilty to Embezzling $400,000 and Not Reporting It on His Taxes

U.S. Attorney’s Office
April 04, 2013

Eastern District of Virginia(703) 299-3700

ALEXANDRIA, VA—John Coston, 48, of Woodbridge, Virginia, pleaded guilty today to embezzling more than $400,000 from Diamond Transportation Services (DTS) and not reporting the additional income on his taxes.

Neil H. MacBride, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Thomas J. Kelly, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation’s Washington, D.C. Field Office; and Valerie Parlave, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, made the announcement after the plea was accepted by United States District Judge Liam O’Grady.

Coston, who worked out of DTS’s office in Springfield, Virginia, pleaded guilty to wire fraud, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, and making and subscribing a false return, which carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for July 19, 2013.

According to a statement of facts filed with his plea agreement, Coston was hired as an operations manager at DTS and was the primary employee that handled payroll disbursements through the company’s online payroll processing system. Coston admitted that from January 2010 through December 2011, he used former employees’ information to funnel payroll funds into bank accounts that Coston actually controlled, which he then accessed and used for his own financial benefit. When he filed his taxes for 2010 and 2011, he claimed that he received more than $63,000 in wages each year, when in reality he received an additional $120,000 in 2010 and $325,000 in 2011 as a result of his embezzlement scheme.

This case was investigated by IRS-CI and the FBI’s Washington Field Office. Assistant United States Attorney Chad Golder is prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.justice.gov/usao/vae.